Food is everywhere. Let’s be honest.. you have thought about it in the last half hour haven’t you? I mean you are thinking about it right this minute.. a dense slice of chocolate cake, buttery toast..the juiciest orange. I’ll stop now.

This is the second in my series of posts about food thoughts and quotes and this week it is all about Tolkien. Many people loved the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit books as well as the films and there are so many fabulous quotes and poems from them. These food related bits fitted well into the theme of my series:

“If more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a much merrier world”

I love this. To be honest.. I do already value food and cheer about hoarded gold. Don’t get me wrong I would like to have a little more money but who wouldn’t? It is nice to feel financially secure and comfortable but being rich is not my goal in life. Being happy is and food makes me incredibly happy. Creating something from scratch using the best but often simplest and cheapest  of ingredients, then feeding it to friends and family and seeing the look of pleasure on their faces is truly wonderful. Food makes people happy. It is something that we all need and that most of us take great delight in, whether that be by cooking it or just eating it. Tolkien is so right when he says it would be a much merrier world if we valued food and cheer over riches.

“Is it nice my precious? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?”

This line from Gollum in the film makes me think of perfectly ripe apples..although I am pretty sure that is not what he was thinking about. Crunchy, juicy apples. Isn’t it weird what words can conjure up in your mind?

“What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them doesn’t he?”

This line is from the Fellowship Of The Ring when Pippin questions if Aragon knows about second breakfasts.

I could definitely live in a world with second breakfasts and elevenses and afternoon tea every single day. Maybe I should have been a hobbit? I could certainly go for living in a cosy little hobbit hole sometimes. My books..some good food and a cup of tea? Bliss.

In the films there are lots of dishes mentioned that you may not have typically heard of or tried – I know I certainly hadn’t..until now that is. Lembas Bread, which in the film is said to be able to fill a man for a whole day with just one bite was the first on my list to try and it is so easy to make and so much fun to recreate something from the film. I was not however able to find mallorn leaves to wrap them up but you know what.. a food storage tub works just fine. I guess the Hobbits would have used them had they had the chance. They are very similar to scones and taste good with butter and jam.

I based my Lembas Bread on this recipe here although I made a lot of adaptations and I am not 100% happy yet so watch this space for my recipe. See my attempt below:

Look out for next weeks food quotes which are all from Oscar Wilde.